London has been battered by 50mph winds that have felled trees and caused travel chaos. Powerful gusts swept across the capital as the Met Office issued a yellow "be aware" weather alert for most of the country.

Watch out, Rupert Murdoch. The Guardian, which has led the way exposing the phone-hacking scandal in the Murdoch empire, is expanding in his own backyard, with a Guardian Australia news operation.

Glamorous deputy editor Katherine Viner, seen as a frontrunner to succeed editor Alan Rusbridger, is set to go to Oz to lead the team.

The Australian expansion plan will be controversial at Guardian HQ in Kings Place as the paper is having to make up to 68 staff compulsorily redundant to stem losses running at £44 million a year. The Guardian has already spent significant sums on Guardian America. But the paper is apparently not having to spend a huge amount on the adventure Down Under because it is planning to collaborate with an Australian investor, Graeme Wood, a philanthropist who has set up The Global Mail, an independent not-for-profit news website.

There has been speculation that The Guardian might consider a print edition in Australia but that is not considered a wise move by Rusbridger, who has adopted a “digital-first” strategy. Viner is understood to be going to Oz for an extended period of time, which will be a loss to the newspaper, where she is the most senior female news executive and the editor of the Saturday Guardian, the best-selling print edition of the week.

Being sent to Australia could be a smart move for Viner because she may avoid some of the blood-letting set to happen in Kings Place. “As the Guardian’s reach grows it’s natural we continually explore a wide range of opportunities and partnerships,” says a Guardian spokesman, who adds that 40 per cent of its online users are from outside the UK.